How to Teach Storytelling in Primary (Story Mountain Template)

Great storytellers aren't born — they're given a structure. The **story mountain** gives children a shape for their ideas: a gentle climb, a peak of excitement, and a satisfying way down.

How to teach storytelling

1. **Hook with a told story.** Tell, don't read — use your voice, pauses and gestures. 2. **Introduce the mountain.** Opening, build-up, climax, resolution, ending. 3. **Plot a known tale** on the mountain together so the shape is clear. 4. **Plan a new story** point by point using the template. 5. **Tell before you write.** Oral rehearsal in pairs builds fluency and vocabulary. 6. **Perform.** Let children tell their stories aloud — storytelling is a spoken art first.

How to use the free story mountain template

Children write or draw one idea at each of the five points along the mountain. The rising slope reminds them to build tension; the peak is the most exciting moment; the descent resolves it. It's a planning tool and a retelling prompt in one.

Quick tips

• Keep the climax to a single dramatic moment.

• Use connectives of time on the slopes ("later", "at last").

Print the free Story Mountain template from the **Assets** box below.